‘Slide the City’ organizer faces criticism over crowd control

The “Slide the City” water party that kicked off Saturday at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has been touted as a success as all the 14,000 tickets for the event have been sold out.

Nevertheless, the organizer has faced some complaints about the event management, particularly on the issue of crowd control, Sky Post reported.

The three-day event where guests slip and slide down a thousand-meter water slide is overseen by a US firm, which has taken the attraction to more than 200 cities around the world.

In Hong Kong, a HK$150 (US$19.4) ticket will get the holder a single slide, and a HK$480 pass will allow unlimited use of the giant water slide during the event.

On the first day, the event organizer gave out quota tags to control the crowds, resulting in waits of about two hours.

Following heavy criticism on the opening day, the organizer on Sunday tried to improve the queuing system and allowed participants to queue up for the slide freely.

But there were complaints that those who had purchased full passes were unable to access unlimited rides. Some netizens even started a Facebook page to voice their grievances.

It was also alleged that the services were stopped 45 minutes before the 10 p.m. closing time.

More than 200 people had joined the Facebook page, with some people calling for complaints to be filed with the Customs and Excise Department and the Consumer Council.

While some people said the slide was great fun, others said the water was insufficient and that the slide was not steep enough. The actual experience was not as exciting as online clips suggest, they said.

Meanwhile, as organizers did not prevent participants from using selfie sticks or action cameras, some people had expressed concerns that such picture-taking could pose a risk to others.

It has been pointed out that some participants who stopped to take pictures during their slide had caused the others behind them on the ride to bump into them.

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